Spence is a highly experienced strategist and design thinker having worked across Europe, Asia, Middle East and Asia Pacific on some of the world’s most well-known brands including BBC, Cadbury, HSBC, Kimberly-Clark, Tesco and Universal.

She has more than 16 years branding experience and has worked with Industry, Blaze, The Brand Agency and Designworks during her career. Based in Sydney, Spence will focus on helping clients grow their business through championing design thinking to craft great customer-focused experiences.

Spence said: “The opportunity to join Principals at such an exciting juncture was too good to miss. This is an agency enjoying incredible momentum as it continues to evolve and challenge the status quo in the industry.

“I have the utmost admiration for the management team who have built an inimitable reputation on a wealth of strategic firepower while remaining staunchly independent for more than 20 years. It is a privilege to join the ranks of such a talented, inspirational and switched-on team who come to work every day focused on doing brilliant things together.”

Tom Brigstocke, CEO of Principals, said of the appointment: “Debbie’s breadth of experience, design thinking capabilities and honed digital skills makes her the perfect fit for us as we move into our next chapter. Her presence will be vital in helping us help our clients effect meaningful change.”

Also joining the agency’s strategy team is Charlie Rose. He takes on the role of Strategy Consultant in the Melbourne office and was previously a strategist at Designworks working with a diverse set of Australian organisations.

Another addition to the Melbourne team is Bridget Ashley, Account Director. Ashley comes to Principals with more than eight years of international branding and design experience from the US and Australia. She has worked for Cato Brand Partners and more recently FutureBrand here in Australia.

XXVI, Principals’ brand and tone of voice consultancy, also welcomes a new addition to its growing Melbourne team. Writer Cam Gilmour has worked as a creative writing teacher and feature writer for several publications including Junkee and Vice.

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